Believe
by Saywhaaaat518
Summary: In which the Pevensie children meet a Narnian and they all learn a little bit about how to believe in things. Takes place during The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Previously titled The Lion's Daughter
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note:** Hey all! So this story was previously just entitled The Lion's Daughter. A little backstory, I'm honestly ashamed of ever posting that. I was really young, probably around 12, not much of a writer and was totally one of those people that was like "Hey I'm gonna create my own character and just add her into every scene of the movie." At the time, I loved that, and for a lot of people that's good for them. But now that I'm older I wanted/needed to fix that. It just did not cut it for me anymore. I loved my character so much, but I didn't do her justice in that original story. So, I decided to fix it up. And after a very long time, in which I struggled to find time to write because adulting is hard, I finally finished it. I am currently working on the second and third story as well. I'll delete those and repost as I finish, but again they're much like the first story where I just placed my character in the middle of everything. I think it's much better now than what it was. But that's totally up to everyone else to decide. Anyway, I'll stop rambling now and just let you guys get to it. Thank you for checking this out! I'm going to try to post weekly, maybe bi-weekly. And again, thanks for giving this a shot!_

 _Disclaimer: I am not C.S. Lewis and nothing in the Narnian world belongs to me._

* * *

The air was still and silent. There were no birds chirping, or Dryads dancing. The wind did not blow through the trees. Nothing moved. Nothing breathed. Nothing made a sound. It was as if no one were even there, as if the girl standing in the middle of a forest clearing with the wind blowing around her was just a statue; an un-moving, un-breathing, statue. That was until something popped out from the bushes in front of her and the girl sprang into action.

She reached behind her back and pulled out an arrow, attached it to her bow, pulled it back and then- TWING!- let it go. The arrow soared through the air and connected right where she wanted it to: into her attacker's heart. The girl then heard a rustling noise off to her left and looked around just in time to dive out of the way as something else flew right at her. She turned around again to see that her predator was coming back, but she was quick enough to pull out her sword and slash it across the attacker's stomach.

Once it fell to the ground, she scanned the clearing another time to see a third attacker coming straight for her out of the trees. She grabbed her dagger from its sheath, aimed, and then tossed it, stopping her attacker dead in its tracks.

The girl looked around once more, not even breaking into a sweat or panting in the slightest when she heard the voice.

"Well done."

And that was how she knew the danger had passed.

The girl quickly spun around, her long brown hair whipping around her, and looked up into the face of a centaur.

"Oreius," she greeted with a bow, before adding, "How did I do that time?"

She was bouncing up and down in excitement, and it reminded Oreius of a young child waiting to open presents on Christmas morning.

"Only took you around thirty seconds that time, and your aim with the dagger was perfect," the centaur praised her, looking around on all of the damage she had inflicted on the training props.

"If only it would be this easy in real battle, right?" the girl laughed, though she was smiling nonetheless, feeling very proud to have gotten such a compliment from one of Narnia's greatest warriors.

"For you, it will be. Come, Airies, Aslan has requested a meeting with you. We must get back to camp now."

As he said this, he offered his hand to the girl named Airies and swung her up onto his back. He began to trot off, heading towards their campsite.

"Oreius, may I ask you something?" the girl questioned him, and she saw him nod his head. "Is she coming soon? My training has been… intense these last few weeks. I always trained at Cair, but you've all brought me here to the camp. This is where the soldiers train. I am worried."

"It is almost time," Oreius said, picking his words carefully. "Your training has picked up, but you are nearly ready, my lady," he told her as they arrived at the ford in Beruna where their camp was set up. He dropped her off in front of her own tent where she leapt off of his back and made to walk inside.

"Make haste. There are many important things to discuss," he told her before bowing and leaving to go to his own tent.

Airies stepped through the door of her tent to find a faun already waiting for her.

"If you did not dawdle so much, you would have had time for a bath. However, Aslan will have to make due with you just the way you are: smelly and dirty," she said, although there was a smile brightening up the faun's features.

"Oh, Giselle, you know full well that I never dawdle," Airies told her, laughing all the same while she began to change out of her practice clothes and into the dress Giselle had picked out for her.

"Red and gold? A little cliché, don't you think?" After she pulled it on Airies added, "Although, I do love it. I never would be able to impress anyone without you, my friend."

The dress that Giselle had chosen for her was a deep red in color that flowed down to the floor and pooled around her feet. The top of it was fitted and corseted, wrapping around her bodice in bright gold cloth, with sleeves that traveled down her arms and stopped in a point on her wrist.

"That is true," the faun laughed as she proceeded to pull Airies' long, dark hair back off of her face and into one braid. Soon enough, she was on her way to Aslan's tent, ready and eager to hear whatever it was that he had to tell her.

"Airies, come in. We have much to discuss," the great lion said, a twinkle in his eye, as she pulled back the tent flap and poked her head in. The girl bowed upon entering and then sat down on the cushion in front of him.

"First and foremost, today marks the fourteenth year of your life. Happy birthday, Dear One."

Airies mentally smacked herself. "I had nearly forgotten," she admitted, a tinge of pink gracing her cheeks, but Aslan just chuckled.

"You have been very busy."

"Indeed. I know it's almost time, sir. My training has picked up. I've been training with the soldiers and not just by myself anymore. And your troops have been growing ever larger. And… I may have asked Oreius," she said the last bit quietly, embarrassed as she knew that she was not meant to be poking around.

"He is right, and that they are. But today we are not here to speak of battles. Today, I have brought you a surprise," the lion told her, a mischievous tone to his voice.

"A surprise?"

"Yes, as the inevitable battle draws closer, it is now time for you to start using your full potential. So, I have brought you someone who can teach you how to do just that. If you'll follow me." After he said this, Aslan led Airies out of the tent and to the large practice field.

"Come, Anali!" Aslan's deep voice shouted. "Airies, I'd like you to meet Anali, the Narnian fire goddess."

At these words, Airies' head whipped to the left, aware now of another presence in the clearing, though what this presence was she could not tell. She could see the figure of a woman's body, but that was all she was able to make out because the body was completely engulfed in flames. As the figure came closer, the ground shook as all around them lightning bolts struck the ground and thunder boomed deep. A fast paced and heavy wind whipped Airies' hair into her face, and nearly blew her over as it grew stronger.

"Airies, Anali's flame helped give your life," Aslan told her as all at once it all stopped and the flaming figure stood in front of them.

"I have waited quite a long time to meet you, Airies."

The soprano voice was loud and echoed around them as the flames disappeared and in front of the fourteen year old stood a beautiful goddess. She was tall and slender, with dark ebony skin. She wore a long flowing dress made of black silk that flowed in waves down to her feet. Her eyes were fierce, yet kind at the same time, and her face was soft and graced with a wide smile. It was easy to understand why Airies was stunned by her, yet what captured her attention the most was her hair; it flowed down the goddesses' back in long, cascading, burning flames.

"I am Anali, Goddess over fire. Fourteen years ago, Aslan came to me and my sisters, Anahita, goddess of water, Adamina, goddess of the earth, and Anila, goddess of the air, in a time of great need. He had found a child, and he wanted to give that child all of his magic, but also so much more. He wanted this child to be as fierce as fire, to have will and passion for many things, to be practical yet kind and honest as the earth, sensitive, yet effective as the water, and rational yet uncontainable as the air. I gave the child my flame, Anahita her wave, Adamina her earth, and Anila her breath. He gave the child his magic, and together, we created you," Anali told her, and Airies could only stare in awe. Of course Aslan had told her all of this before, but never did she expect to come face to face with one of her creators.

"It is now time for you to gain control over these assets, to finally start to practice your magic. I will go first, and then you shall meet my sisters. They are most eager to meet you. Keep in mind, the task at hand will not be easy. It will be difficult, and tiring, both physically and mentally, but there is no doubt in my mind that you will be able to do it. Do you accept the task that is to come ahead?"

Airies nodded her head fervently, unable to speak. Excitement coursed through her very veins. She always knew that she was here to serve a great purpose, and now, finally, she would be able to live up to it.

"Then let us begin. The journey ahead will be very time consuming, so we must make haste."

And with a clap of her hands, Anali started her instructing.

The first few days of Airies' training were very grueling. They consisted mostly of training her mind. Anali explained that gaining control over these elements was very straining; her mind, therefore, needed to be strong enough to do so.

On the fourth day of this strength training, the goddess of fire clapped her hands and with a smile said, "My child, you are ready!"

"Ready?" Airies cried. "I need rest, Anali. I am exhausted!" With that, she sunk down to the ground in defeat.

"Come now, Airies, fighting in a war does not permit rest. Get up. Fight through it. Fire shall be the easiest of the elements for you to gain control over, because I was the first to give it to you. Think of it. Feel it. Bring that flame inside of you to the surface. Channel it through your body to one area. And then, once you feel it there… let it go!"

As she instructed, Airies had slowly risen to her feet, watching as fire ignited from Anali's fingertips, and continued to make its way up her arm and to other parts of her body until the goddess was engulfed in flames entirely. Then, a moment later, the fire decreased until once again Anali held the flames in her outstretched palm.

"Now you," she told the girl.

Airies shut her eyes tight, and thought hard of the fire that must be inside of her. She wanted to be wrapped inside of it, wanted to know what it felt like.

"Think smaller, dear," Anali said, her voice amused after Airies opened her eyes to find that nothing had happened. "Do not be discouraged, Airies. If everything came without having to work for it, you would not fully appreciate it. Try again."

And so she did.

She shut her eyes tight yet again and tuned everything out, only listening to the sound of her own breathing, and the beating of her heart; the heart that pumped blood throughout her body, the blood that was also filled with a fire so strong that it could warm the very soul. As she turned her ears away from the sounds of Narnia, she could almost hear the sound of the flames igniting in her veins. She wanted to feel her hand be burned by the flames, and after moments of feeling nothing she sighed.

"I don't think it worked. I don't feel anything," she said, her eyes still closed.

Anali laughed. "Open your eyes, dearest."

Airies slowly and unsurely opened her eyes and was taken aback by what she saw: a steady jet of fire was streaming out of her fingertips.

"Yes," she breathed out in a whisper, not wanting to break her concentration. She focused in on the fire and willed it to spread throughout her body, and surprisingly it did not take long for the fire to wrap around her completely. This time she did not bother to hide her cheer of excitement. She let out a loud yell before an idea came to mind.

She willed the fire to contain itself back to her right hand yet again, and when it did, she flung the flame straight forward, throwing it through the air until it collided with a boulder. Airies laughed the sound rumbling through her stomach as she clapped her hands together.

"I did it. I actually did it!" she cried.

"You are much stronger than you think, Airies, congratulations!" Anali applauded her.

"Now I really am exhausted," Airies chuckled.

"Get some rest, love. You've earned it now. We shall pick up again tomorrow."

Three days later, everything was coming easier to Airies. Anali was almost ready to bring her goddess sisters here to show Airies how to call upon the other elements as well. And once she mastered that, Aslan would begin teaching her a few of his own tricks as well. Airies was running as fast as she could, watching as the flames that engulfed her left a trail behind her.

"Quite the natural you are!" Anali praised her, laughter in her voice.

And then, something unexpected happened.

The sky grew dark, and ice cold snow started to fall down and whip around them in a blizzard-like state. This was unusual, since it was practically the beginning of the summer season in Narnia. All around them, the ground shook. Aslan's warriors were making their way into the clearing, looking worried.

"Anali, are you doing this?" Aires shouted, trying to make herself heard over the wind, but Anali shook her head.

"It is something far worse. Airies, you must hide. Run. Run!"

Right as she said that, arrows started raining down upon them.

"Airies, you must run. Go!"

So Airies ran. She made her way towards the woods. But she did not get far before turning to see that half of the warriors, her friends, were frozen in ice, including her teacher.

"No, Anali, no!" she screamed.

She turned around to run back, but a faun, Frederick, grabbed her around the waist.

"Your highness, you must come with me. It is not safe. Please, follow me." Frederick grabbed her hand and together the two ran deep into the woods.

"It is time for you to leave, your highness." The faun said.

"Leave? What do you mean?"

At that point, Aslan stepped out of the shadows.

"No, please don't send me away. I can help, please," Airies pleaded, realizing now what Frederick had meant.

"Dear one, it is not safe for you here right now. The White Witch does not know of your existence, or of your power. Narnia will call you back when it is time. You will be living with a king. My daughter, I have to keep you safe." Aslan's voice was low and full of regret.

"Aslan, please," Airies begged.

"I love you. You are my very dearest one. I am sorry," the lion said, right before letting out a deep roar, sending Airies into total blackness.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Disclaimer:_ _I am not C.S. Lewis and nothing in the Narnian world belongs to me._**

* * *

Airies had been stuck on earth for three years. Three very long, very frustrating years. Aslan had sent her to live with Professor Digory Kirke, the very first child to enter Narnia. She was happy to live with him. They often told each other stories of Narnia, but she wanted to be home. She was a warrior. She wanted to fight alongside her people.

In her three years here, she had continued her training alone. She had completely mastered fire, but the other three elements, wind, earth, and water, were much harder to figure out. She had had no training at all in those elements. There were also Aslan's powers that she wanted to work on, but with no original training on those powers either she just felt like a fool every time she tried to call them forward. And she had no idea where to start. She was starting to get angry now, and her anger grew with each day. Professor Kirke did what he could to help her, searching through the many books he had in his library, but they were still coming up short. The books he found her on each of the four elements helped her gain knowledge on each one, but nothing to help her gain control over them. He had even found some magic books, which she took to looking through every night since he had had given them to her. They helped a bit. The books taught her certain techniques and hand movements. Magic was all in the wrists, so to speak.

She also had no news of Narnia.

Once, Aslan had come to her in a dream, letting her know that her path back home lay in the hands of four children. Professor Kirke had many children pass through his home, seeing as he acted as a safe house for the war that England was in, but none of them were the ones. They were getting more today, and Airies wanted nothing to do with them. She was beginning to get discouraged, believing that she would never return home. That thought left her in a depressive state of mind, which meant that she hardly ever left her bedroom, and most days she spent sitting on the windowsill in her bedroom, never even bothering to change out of her pajamas.

That was where she was now, waiting for the new arrivals to come over the bend. There was a slight knock on her door, and she managed to give a low, "Come in."

Professor Kirke walked in and made his way over to her.

"The children will be here soon. Will you come down to meet them?"

"No, I don't think I will," Airies answered without taking her eyes off of the window.

"Airies," the professor sighed.

"I can't take any more children, professor. I can't take hurting anymore when they return home and I am still here. I am never going home," she cried out.

The professor placed a hand on her shoulder. "You will go home, Airies. Maybe these four will be the ones. You still have to have hope," he tried to comfort her.

"I've lost it all," she whispered, turning back to the windowsill.

"Happy birthday," Professor Kirke said sadly before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Airies sighed deeply. She knew that she should not be so rude, but having three years of pent up anger inside her meant that it was almost like rude was all that she knew how to be. Her hope was gone. She did not know if she would ever get it back. And if she was going to be honest, if she was going to be stuck here forever, she never wanted to hope for anything ever again. The professor did what he could for her, and for that she was grateful. But his house was no Narnia. This world was no Narnia. And though she tried at first, this place would never become home.

The Professor's horse and carriage came over the hill, and she could see four children in the back of it; two boys and two girls. She watched from above as they got out of the carriage and followed Mrs. Macready, the housekeeper, into the house. She heard Professor Kirke introduce himself, and then the children introduced themselves as Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie. She then heard Mrs. Macready give them a tour of the house. It was easy to hear almost everything that happened throughout the house; the walls were very thin. She heard them stop outside of her room just down the hall, only to have Mrs. Macready tell them that this part of the house was off limits.

Airies scoffed and turned back to the window. A tear rolled down her face as she thought of her home, the home that she may never get the chance to see again.

"Happy birthday to me," she whispered sadly, her breath fogging up the window before her.

* * *

Edmund Pevensie was not in high spirits, not one bit.

He and his family had been living with Professor Digory Kirke for three days now, and he was the only one of his siblings to be curious about what was in the "forbidden" wing of the house. Peter had warned him to leave it alone, but he did not believe in listening to Peter. He was trying to be too much like their father. He was different, not the same, fun, carefree older brother that he used to be. Peter was always trying to boss Edmund around, but Edmund did not need to be told what to do. He was fourteen for Pete's sake! So, he was going to find out what was so wrong about that part of the house.

Edmund waited until his brother and sisters were asleep before sneaking off down the hallway and up a set of stairs. The corridor was completely dark, but thankfully Edmund's eyes were able to adjust quickly, and the moon shining through the windows that lined down the hallway lit a path for him to follow.

As he got farther down the hall, he heard some strange sounds coming from one of the rooms at the end of the hall. Slowly, he started to open the door wide enough to peak around it. Once inside, he saw a girl, but there was something rather strange about her. She was holding something in her hand, it was glowing; and then after a moment of staring at the glowing ball, she threw it at the wall opposite her.

Was that- it was fire!

Over and over again, the girl threw balls of fire at the wall. The wall would burn for just a second, and then the fire would disappear. As she did this she shouted, "It's no use!" first loud, and then the words turned into a whisper until she was crying, choking back tears that enabled her from speaking.

This was all so strange, and Edmund felt compelled to get a closer look. He tried to open the door a little wider, but as he did so he felt a tap on his shoulder. He jumped and turned around to see his younger sister, Lucy, standing behind him with her arms crossed over her chest. She opened her mouth to say something, but Edmund shushed her and pointed into the room.

Lucy, unable to help herself because she had always been a very curious little girl, went to look around him, but lost her balance, which resulted in the two of them toppling through the door and onto the floor of the girl's room.

The girl's head whipped around towards them, and all at once every candle in the room was lit with a burning flame.

"Hey! Might I ask what you're doing?" She sounded angry. Edmund mentally smacked himself. Of course she was angry. They had just invaded her personal space.

Edmund and Lucy jumped up, while Edmund stuttered over his words, trying to find an explanation for why he had been spying, and why they were laying on a heap on the floor.

"I'm pretty sure the Macready told you not to come down here. Leave!"

Edmund spluttered some more, trying to get out an apology, but Lucy, who as well as curious had always been perceptive, said, "Are you alright? You've been crying." It was not a question, but a statement.

The girl turned away from them and wiped her eyes. "I'm fine. Please leave."

Instead, Edmund watched as his little sister did the exact opposite. Lucy walked over to the girl, and wrapped her arms around her in a hug.

"Lucy!" Edmund hissed.

"Whatever it is, it will be alright. I'm Lucy."

"Lucy, come on!" Edmund whispered franticly, and after a moment, Lucy let the girl go and walked out of the room.

Edmund went to follow but at the last minute turned around and asked, "What's your name?"

"Airies," the girl said back after a moment of hesitation.

"That's pretty. I'm Edmund. Goodnight," he said, leaving behind a very shocked Airies.

The next morning, Airies still could not believe what happened last night. Those two siblings had come into her room and saw her throwing flames… yet she had not been questioned about it. There was something different about these Pevensie siblings compared to the rest of the children who have lived here so far. For starters, no other children have trespassed into her wing of the house.

She needed to stop thinking about them. She needed to focus on how she was feeling today, and that was different. There was something going on inside of her. She felt… there was not any real word for it, but what she was feeling reminded her of how she felt when Anali had been teaching her how to control fire. It was a certain strength, a certain lightness within her. It was something that she had not felt in three years.

A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts. There's the professor, always interrupting at the worst moment.

"Come in."

However, it was not the professor that stepped through her door, but a boy of about sixteen with dusty blonde hair; another Pevensie.

"So two of you come down here and now all of you think it's alright to trespass?" she questioned.

"Technically, we are residents here now, so it is not really trespassing," the boy shot back, which caused Airies to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Is that so?"

"Actually, that happens to be what I'm here about. I wanted to apologize for my siblings, Edmund and Lucy. They should not have come down here. We were told not to, they just get curious. Anyway, I am sorry," he apologized, while taking a step further into the room, instead of backing away like she had silently hoped he would.

"It doesn't matter. What's done is done."

He shrugged as if to say, "Have it your way," but instead what came out was, "I'm Peter, by the way," he said while holding out a hand.

"Airies," she said back while walking over to him in order to take his hand in hers.

A jolt ran through her body at the contact, and she jumped back, but Peter held her hand tighter.

"Airies, that's… that's very beautiful."

"Oh, uh, thank you."

She could feel a blush creep up into her face. She knew what she looked like when she blushed. Giselle used to always make fun of her for it. She was so pale that whenever she blushed, whether it was a lot or a little, every inch of her became blotchy and bright red. As embarrassed as she was over this, she felt like she should say more, but all words, thoughts and forms of language had completely escaped her. Should she compliment him back? What was going on with her? She always had a witty retort for everything, but nothing was coming to mind right now.

"Well, I'll just leave you to whatever it was that you were doing in here. Maybe we'll see you around the house." And with that, he was gone, and Airies sat down in a chair, unable to catch her breath.

She could not wrap her mind around what had just happened. As she breathed deeply, a book on the windowsill on the other side of the room fell onto the floor. Airies looked up, and around the room, trying to find the cause, but the window was closed. She took a deep breath again, and the book flipped through the pages like air was blowing across it. The curtains on the window fluttered back and forth.

Slowly, she rose up from her chair. The wind in the room was coming from her. She was making the curtains and the book move. Concentrating hard, she pointed her arm towards the book and spun her fingers around in a quick flash. The books pages whipped back and forth and the curtains spun around as if there was a storm. The flames from the candles all flickered and then blew out. Airies laughed, and she continued to laugh as she made wind move throughout the room. She had done it! She had controlled the wind. After years of trying, she had finally succeeded.

Something was very different here.

* * *

Susan was trying her hardest to be strong for her siblings, especially for Lucy. Being in a new house far away from their home was hard on all of them, especially because this new house that they were living in was rather creepy. It was like a museum. They often had tourists coming in to follow the Macready around and hear about all of the historical artifacts that the house held. They almost never saw the professor, he only came out at meal times, and they never saw the house's third inhabitant, who Peter and Edmund called Airies.

Susan's walls were crumbling. She missed her home. She missed her father, and she missed her mother. Things were not normal around here. They were not structured, and she just wanted to be somewhere familiar.

They were playing hide and seek now, and as Susan tried to find a hiding place, she let her tears get the best of her. She walked through the halls until she heard frantic voices on the other side of one of the doors to the library which made her stop.

"I did it! I actually did it! The books moved Digory, they moved! I made them move."

That must be the infamous Airies, Susan thought.

"What did I tell you? Things are different. They are the ones. Keep practicing and you'll be able to go home soon."

What the professor and this girl were saying made no sense to Susan. The door opening made the eavesdropping girl jump, and she did not have enough time to scurry away before the other girl came out of the room.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't think anyone would be standing out here," she said after almost running into Susan. "You must be Susan."

All Susan could do was nod.

"I've already met the rest of your siblings."

Airies was talking breathlessly, and Susan deduced that she must be very excited about something. That's when she heard Lucy shouting down the hall. She was vaguely aware of excusing herself, and of Airies following her down the hallway where she found Peter, Edmund and Lucy shouting at each other.

"Does this mean I won?" Susan asked when she got to them, trying to ease the tension, only to have Peter explain that Lucy did not want to play hide and seek anymore, which caused Lucy to launch into a story of how she tumbled through the wardrobe in the spare room and came out on the other side in a magical world called Narnia. Susan was about to question her sister, but the gasp behind her made her words stop in her throat.

"Did you say Narnia?" Airies asked while stepping around Susan and Peter closer to Lucy.

After a moment of hesitation, Lucy responded. "Yes. Have you been there?"

"I think I have, when I was very small."

"You're saying you've been to a magical world?" Peter scoffed.

"Aren't all worlds magical?" Airies questioned him before taking Lucy by the hand. "Come on, Lucy. Why don't you show us this wardrobe?"


	3. Chapter 3

**_Disclaimer:_ _I am not C.S. Lewis and nothing in the Narnian world belongs to me._**

* * *

The next couple of days found Airies sitting in front of the wardrobe, speaking to it and hoping that Aslan could hear her. She also continued her practice of influencing the wind. Some days were easier than others, in which she would be able to create wind storms with just a thought, and other days were much harder, leaving her frustrated and angry. Anali always said that the other elements would be harder to control, but this was getting ridiculous.

When she was not practicing, Airies spent her time with Lucy, telling her stories of Narnia. It was nice to be able to share her life with someone who was closer in age to herself. She and Lucy became fast friends, which did not make Lucy's siblings happy. Just yesterday, Peter had confronted her about Lucy.

"I don't appreciate you filling my sister's head with nonsense!" He shouted at her after cornering her after supper one evening. Airies had begun to take more of her meals with the rest of the house's occupants.

"Nonsense?" she scoffed.

"It isn't fair to her. It's hard enough already, with the move here. Once she realizes that this world, this Narnia, isn't real… I don't know what it will do to her."

He sounded so defeated, it made Airies feel quite bad.

"Peter, trust me, I know exactly what it feels like to go through what you're going through. We don't know each other, but please try and trust me. This is good for Lucy, to believe in something. And if you can't trust me, then trust Lucy. She's you're sister, right? You'refamily, so maybe you should try to be on her side rather than against her."

Something she said made Peter's facial features soften, and he backed away from her enough for her to slip past him and leave the dining room.

Airies walked through the house now, sulking a little. Lucy had told her of the White Witch and how it was always winter in Narnia now. Narnia was losing this war, and Airies felt incredibly guilty. She should be there fighting against the Witch. She had to get back there soon. As she was thinking this, she came across Edmund sitting alone in the room that he shared with Peter. He was sitting on the windowsill bench, staring out at the yard, and when Airies knocked on the door, asking his permission to come in, he did not even acknowledge her. She entered the room anyway, figuring that since he had trespassed on her once, that it was only fair that she do it to him.

"Edmund, are you alright?"

He was staring as if he was not seeing the yard in front of him, but something else entirely.

"You've been there too," Airies stated, not really sure herself as to how she knew that, but Edmund nodded in response.

"I lied to them. I followed Lucy. She was going into the wardrobe, and I followed her, thinking it would be funny to trap her. But there was no end, and I was… I… and then Lucy was exclaiming I had been there too, and I just… told Peter I was only playing along. I thought I was going crazy, and I got scared, and now Peter hates me."

He spoke as if he was a record player, the words flowing out of his mouth as if he really had no control over them. His hands were resting in his lap, and Airies felt a strange pull to take hold of them in her own. He seemed so lost, and she wanted to help him and be there for him. She had not felt this way in a long time, had not cared about anyone in a long time.

"It's just so hard," he continued, looking out the window, "having to be sent here away from my home, away from everything I know."

"Ed, believe me when I tell you that I know exactly how you feel. But at least you have your family," she told him.

"How could you possibly understand what I'm going through?" he spat, but Airies could not blame him for being rude. She was in exactly the same spot as he was.

"Because you and I, we're not so different. I've been away from my family much longer than you have, and I'm still not used to it. I had no one, I have no one. You have a brother and sisters who love you. Trust them, and everything will turn out alright."

"And what about you?" he asked, finally looking at her.

"You can have me too, if you want. Maybe we can help each other."

Edmund smiled at her. "I think that's good."

Later that day, Airies sat alone out in the grounds, reading under the shade of a tree. The rest of the Pevensies had been in the library, but one chose to join her now. Peter walked towards her and when she looked up he asked, "May I join you?" while motioning towards the ground.

"Oh, uh, sure."

"I wanted to ask you something," he stated once he made himself comfortable, and Airies nodded for him to continue. "Something you said yesterday stuck with me. It was something that the professor had said to me as well. Which leads me to ask, how long have you been here?"

"Three years," she answered.

"And what happened to your family?"

Airies slowly shut her book, and sat up straighter against the tree. "War," she said shortly.

Peter looked away from her and looked out over the hills. He was silent for quite a while, and Airies waited patiently for him to collect his thoughts.

"How do you manage?" he asked quietly.

Airies tried to chuckle but what came out was a scoff. "I don't."

Peter's composure lacked for just a moment before he wiped the emotion from his face. It was in that moment that Airies realized how alike they were. Both torn from their homes as their loved ones fought a fight that seemed impossible to win. It was not fair, to either of them, but especially not to Peter. He did not sign up for any of this.

"I wish I could say that it gets easier, because I know that's what you're looking for. But I can't lie to you. You don't deserve it. It doesn't get easier. But stick with your family, and together you will get through this and return home."

Peter just shook his head.

"I'm not ready for the responsibility of taking care of my siblings. I don't know what's right for them."

For the second time that day, Airies felt the urge to physically connect with someone, and this time she acted on it. She leaned forward and rested her hand against Peter's knee.

"Yes you do. Trust yourself, Peter. You are stronger than you think."

Hesitantly, Peter covered her hand in his.

"How do you know? You said it earlier, I don't know you and you don't know me."

"Call it women's intuition," she said with a smirk, to which Peter rolled his eyes. But despite that, he squeezed her hand briefly, letting her know that he appreciated it.

"Peter! Are you ready? We're all set up. Oh! Airies, we were going to play a game of cricket. Do you want to join?" Susan came running towards them, causing them to quickly jump back to their original seating positions.

"Oh, no thank you. But I'll see you all at dinner."

Airies returned to the house, and just as she made it up to the library, something came crashing through the window: a cricket ball. Judging by the shouts that she could hear from outside, it had been Edmund who hit the ball. Soon enough, four shouting voices paired with four siblings came running into the library.

"I didn't mean to!" Edmund shouted at Peter, who just threw his hands up and shook his head.

"The Macready will have your asses," Airies said, and not even seconds after they all heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Run!"

The four Pevensies and Airies all ran out of the library in a flash. They ran throughout the halls of the house, but it felt like wherever they turned, the Macready was right behind them. The children found themselves in the spare room before any of them knew what was happening. Edmund was the first one to go over to the wardrobe.

"Come on!" he shouted, gesturing towards the open door.

"You've got to be joking," Susan exclaimed, but Peter just pushed her towards the wardrobe. He made sure his siblings were all safely inside before he placed his hand on the small of Airies' back and led her inside. He kept the door slightly cracked, because it would not be sensible to shut them in a wardrobe completely, and pushed them all back as far as they could go… and then they kept on going until Peter was toppling out of the back of the wardrobe and into cold, wet, fluffy snow.

Peter scrambled to his feet and looked around. As he, Susan, Edmund and Lucy took in their surroundings, Airies moved away from them. She could not believe it. The realization that she had made it to Narnia, finally, was too much for her, and she was overcome by tears that brought her to her knees in the snow. A feeling of happiness spread throughout her body, and around her the wind picked up, sending the snow to gently drift around her in spirals.

She was home.


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I am not C.S. Lewis and nothing in the Narnian world belongs to me.  
_

* * *

"This is unbelievable," Peter said, taking in everything around him, from the snow to the mountains, to the seemingly endless space that definitely did not fit inside one empty wardrobe.

"Impossible," Susan agreed.

They had just finished up a snowball fight after apologizing to Lucy for not believing her. Airies did not take part in their musings, however. She stood a little ways off from them, thinking about what her next move was. She knew that she needed to stay with the Pevensies and keep them safe. They were the key to ending this winter after all. But she did not know how much she should tell them, for fear of overwhelming them and having them disappear, and she could not have that at all.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by a tiny force crashing into her. Lucy had run over and hugged her around her middle.

"Airies, you're home at last!" she exclaimed.

"Home?" Peter questioned, as he and Susan moved over to them.

"This is where I'm from," Airies stated simply. "Narnia is my home."

"I don't understand," Susan said, and Airies explained that she had been born here, and sent away when she was young. Things clicked into place right away for both Peter and Edmund, who had been listening to the conversation from a few feet away.

"So this is where you were sent away from? Is there a war still going on here?" Peter questioned, remembering the conversation they had had earlier about wars and families, and Airies nodded.

"We should leave," Susan cried out in a panic, but Edmund and Lucy both shouted, "No!"

"No, you can't! I mean, you just got here. I promise that you are all safe. War here is not as you would expect. Please trust me," Airies pleaded, cursing herself. She should never have told Peter about the war, but she had found it practically impossible to lie to him.

"I'd really like you all to meet Mr. Tumnus. Please Peter," Lucy begged, and Peter looked over to Airies. "No air raids?" He asked her. "No air raids," Airies promised, which made Peter give in to Lucy's request. When Susan scoffed in disapproval, he merely turned to her and said, "We owe Lucy." With a wide grin on her face, Lucy led the way. As Peter moved around her, his hand sought out Airies' hand and clasped onto it. Airies was thoroughly surprised, but did not pull away. Instead, she did something even more surprising and grasped onto Susan's hand, who then took hold of Edmund's hand, and the five walked as one to Mr. Tumnus's house.

Peter did not quite understand what was going on, but one thing was for certain and that was that he trusted Airies, and if she said that they were safe, then he believed her. There was something strong about her. He got the sense that she could be very powerful. He also felt safe around her; safer than he should feel around someone he had known for only a few weeks. It just felt right to be near her, and he could not argue with that.

The path to the faun's house proved most uneventful, until Susan slipped down a hill, and to the surprise of all of her siblings, began to make a snow angel. This put them all into an exceptionally good mood, especially Peter who had not seen his sister acting so carefree in a very long time. Maybe Narnia would be good for all of them. Peter believed that things were starting to look up.

The whole way to Tumnus' home, Airies tingled with happiness. But she was still unsure where they would go from there. She did not know how much time had passed here since she'd been gone, or where Aslan and his army were now. She hoped that this Mr. Tumnus would be able to answer some of her questions. However, once they got to his house in the hill, she realized that none of her questions would be answered right now.

The faun had been taken prisoner by the White Witch. Her guard had left a note pinned to his door, which now was in Airies' hand. She crumpled it in anger after reading it for herself, crushing the paper in her fist.

Gently beneath her feet, the ground started to shake. A red haze clouded her eyes. Jadis' power was growing out of control. She was now able to arrest anyone she wanted for no reason at all. She really was acting like a queen here. But this would not last for long. Airies was going to bring her demise personally. A mug crashed to the floor, and it alerted Airies to the fact that she was standing alone in the room. As she ran outside to catch up to the Pevensies, the shaking stopped.

She found them speaking to a beaver, who was telling them that he knew the faun. He beckoned them to follow him into the cover of the trees, and Airies was the first to do so.

"What news of Aslan?" she asked right away.

"So it is you, then? The daughter? There was a whisper that you would bring the four to us," Mr. Beaver countered.

"I am. And Aslan?" she prompted again.

"He has not been seen for a hundred years. But there are troops rallying in his name in Beruna."

Airies' heart fell. Aslan had disappeared? One hundred years had gone by since she left Narnia? How could this happen?

"Will you lead us there?" she could not keep her voice from shaking.

"I will, your highness," Mr. Beaver vowed.

"Please don't tell them about me, about who I am," she pleaded as the four siblings came tumbling through the bushes after them.

The beaver told the children that he would lead them to his home for shelter for the night. Lucy took to the animal immediately, Airies assumed for two reasons: one being that he was a talking animal, and the other being that he had known Mr. Tumnus.

Airies was deeply conflicted. She wanted nothing more than to comfort the little girl, but she did not know what to say. She also did not want to give too much away about the conditions here in Narnia. For one, she did not want to scare them away, but mostly she did not want to be the one to put the burden of being Narnia's saviors on their heads. She looked over to Peter, who had his arm around Lucy's shoulders. He had no idea what he was walking into.

With a deep breath, Airies moved towards him and rested a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her, and gave her a small smile. She then slowly let her hand run down his arm until she was lacing her fingers through his. His smile grew wider, and he squeezed her hand in response.

The path to the beaver's house was clear of any danger or surprises. The only surprise took form in the Pevensie's showing up outside of Mrs. Beaver's front door and shocking her into silence. Right away, she ushered them inside and started feeding them. They told the Pevensie's of the war going on around them, and it ended up being Mr. Beaver who told them of their part in it. The children acted exactly as Airies had expected them to. Peter and Susan exclaimed that they did not want any part in this war, but Lucy wanted to stay and help. However, she was overruled by her older siblings who claimed it was time for them to go. Only they did not realize that through their arguing, Edmund had given them the slip.

"I'll kill him," Peter growled.

"You may not have to. Has your brother ever been to Narnia before?" Mr. Beaver asked. His wife was shaking her head.

"Yes, with Lucy," Susan answered. "Why?"

"I believe, though as unfortunate as it is, that we have a traitor in our midst," the animal said gravely.

"Traitor? What do you mean? Where has he gone?" Susan cried.

"The White Witch's castle."

"Jadis," Airies growled under her breath, and as she started to get angry for the second time that day, the ground once again started to shake. As the children and beaver fought about what to do next, Airies thoughts turned to Edmund. She did not fully blame him for turning to Jadis. She had many tricks up her sleeve. Mostly she worried about him, Jadis was deranged and unhinged; dangerous. She was also ashamed. She had promised all of them that she would keep them safe. What a great job she was doing so far, she thought sarcastically.

Susan shouting, "We should have left while we still had the chance!" brought Airies back to the room.

"Stop fighting!" she shouted, slamming her fist onto the table. Everyone went silent. "Beaver, you take them to Beruna. Now. If Edmund is in her clutches, then she knows that you all are here and the hunt will be on."

"And what about you?" Mrs. Beaver asked.

"I'm going to get Edmund," she said simply before standing up and moving towards the door, but Peter stood in her way.

"I'm coming with you."

"No."

"He's my brother," Peter argued.

"You have no training, and you will only slow me down," Airies said shortly, starting to get annoyed.

"And you have training?" Peter scoffed.

"Fourteen years of it. This is what I was made for. Take your sisters to where Aslan's army is waiting for you. Do not try to follow me." With that, Airies moved once more towards the door and once she was outside, she took off running.

Night had fallen over Narnia, and everything was eerily dark, but Airies knew her way. She moved quickly and smoothly through the woods. The closer she got to the castle, the more nervous she became. She knew that no matter what she told Peter, she was completely unprepared to face Jadis now. She had no weapon, and no idea how to control the other elements. Aslan and Anali made it very clear that those powers would help to defeat the White Witch. She had no game plan; the only thing she knew was that she had to get Edmund out of Jadis' clutches.

It took almost all night to reach the witch's castle. She found wolf tracks in the snow, Jadis' guard. She hoped that the Beavers did not take her warning lightly. She was exhausted, but she had to find a way in. She staked the place out until morning. She did not have to get in, however, because Jadis, along with Edmund, was coming out. Airies ran after them, but the witch's sleigh was far too fast for her to keep up with.

She chased the sleigh all the way to a waterfall, but she found that she was too late. Jadis was gone, and Edmund had been turned to stone.

"NO!"

Airies rushed out of the bushes and collapsed to the ground at Edmund's feet. Sobs wracked through her body. "Ed, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She was too late, and Jadis was too powerful. She had won, and Airies failed. She was not able to keep her promise.

"NO," Airies roared, standing up. "She did not win. You are not gone."

She felt the fire coursing through her, but this was new. She had never felt so strong. She put her hands on either side of Edmund's face and shut her eyes. She willed the fire to move from her heart, through her arms, out her palms, and into Edmund. She had never wanted something so badly before, and she thought that it was for that reason alone that what she was doing might actually work. She heard a faintly beating heart which was not her own beat around her, and then the cold stone beneath her fingers started to feel warm and soft, and soon Edmund was coughing and gasping for breath.

"Airies?"

His voice was weak, but that did not stop Airies from pulling him into a hug. "I did it. It worked. You're alive!" she laughed. She was so happy. "I can't believe it. I actually did it." Tears leaked from her eyes as she held Edmund at arm's length.

"My family?"

"They're fine. They're safe, and on their way to Aslan! What happened? Did she hit you?"

She lightly touched his cheek where a bright red spot had formed and Edmund winced.

"She was chasing after my family. She lied. I don't know why I believed her. She told me I could rule by her side, and I wanted that so badly. But then I found out the truth, and I didn't want that. And she found the fox who hid them, and she tried to turn him to stone. But I got in the way. How am I here? What did you do?"

"It doesn't matter. You're safe, Ed, and out of the witches clutches. Can you walk? We're going to meet your family."

Airies grasped Edmund's hand in hers and together they made their way to Beruna.


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I am not C.S. Lewis and nothing in the Narnian world belongs to me._

* * *

Edmund had had enough of listening to the Beavers and his siblings. He was going to go to Jadis. They never listened to him. They did not respect him. If he ruled by the Queen's side, they would have to respect him. They would have to start listening to him, and they would finally see all of the good that he was capable of. They would see that he was not just a child. He could be brave and good like their father. They would see. And they would come back to him. They would all want to be around him again. He would be a good king.

He slipped out of the beaver's dam without them noticing, surprise, surprise. They never really noticed him until he was acting out, which he did because they did not notice him. Peter was too old for him now. Susan was trying to act too grown up. Lucy was the golden child. Everyone loved her the most, including their parents. No one saw Edmund. He and Peter used to be so close. Growing up, he looked up to Peter the most, and Peter actually wanted to be around him. They played together, and chased each other, and Peter would even read him bedtime stories. He would sneak over to Edmund's bed after their mother had turned out the lights and read to him under the covers with a flashlight. Then Peter grew up too much for him. He tried to be the man of the house when father left for the war. And then he had no more time to give to Edmund. He missed Peter most of all.

He thought of all of this as he walked to Jadis' castle. When he walked through her castle gates he was excited. What would it be like to be a king? Would it be like the storybooks? Would he have servants? Would he get to wear a crown and sit in a thrown and eat Turkish Delight all day? The possibilities were endless. Now he was so close. The wolf was going to find Jadis. He waited in a thrown of ice for her. It was singlehandedly the greatest thing Edmund had ever gotten to do. He started daydreaming about bossing Peter around from that thrown, and having his servants wait on him hand and foot, and making kingly decisions with Queen Jadis by his side.

But when she came out, all of his hopes and dreams came crashing down. She was screaming at him, furious that he did not bring his siblings with him. This was not the same queen he had met his first day in Narnia that promised him life as a king. This queen was scarier, her eyes seemed darker, her voice deeper. A tremor shook through Edmund. "What am I doing?" The thought was brief in his mind before he was interrupting her and telling her that he brought them halfway, that they were in a little house with the beavers not far from here! She would forgive him for not bringing them right? They didn't listen to him! They never believed him! She would have to forgive him and not be angry with him for too long.

But Edmund quickly realized how wrong his thinking was. Once Jadis was angry, she would stay angry. She threw him into her ice dungeon and chained him up to the wall by the ankle. _She's just mad. She'll get over it. She has to get over it. She promised me a kingdom. She will find my brother and sisters, she'll understand that they did not listen, and she won't be mad anymore._ This dream was all that he had left. If he did not have this, then he had nothing.

He was not alone down here in the dungeon. The other occupant was a faun, who happened to be the very infamous Mr. Tumnus who knew his sister. And that was when it all came crashing down. The faun was not evil, he was not a villain. He was good, and he worried about Lucy. Which meant that Jadis… she was everything the beavers said she was. How could he be so stupid? He was never going to be a king. She did not want to help him. She most likely wanted to kill him, and Peter, Susan and Lucy as well. He started to panic. What was he going to do? He pulled his legs up to his stomach and wrapped his arms around them. He had just sent Jadis after them. He prayed and prayed that they would not be caught. That somehow they knew to get away. _Please, God, let them be okay._

While he was locked away he talked to Mr. Tumnus, in whispers of course. Tumnus told him about what the old days of Narnia used to be like. Of course, Mr. Tumnus had not been alive to see them, but he had heard many, many stories about them, and he told Edmund all of the ones that he knew. He whispered to him about Aslan, how he was the real king of Narnia, and that he was all things good and light. Edmund liked to hear the stories of the great lion the most. It made him feel like there might be hope after all. If Aslan was here, he was definitely looking after his brother and sisters. They would be safe.

It was not long before Jadis came back, screaming at him once more. Thank God, they were okay! They had made it out. The wolves did not find them at the beaver's dam. They were still safe, and they had to be looking for him. They were looking for him, right? They had to be. But what if they weren't? What if they did not care about him anymore? He did go behind their backs. But no, he was their brother still! They just had to be looking for him.

She threatened him, but he would not give anything else up. She could do what she wanted to him, but his family was safe from her and he would not give them up again. He stood his ground… until she threatened the faun. But he was innocent! He cared about Lucy, and he even seemed to care about him, Edmund. He could not let Jadis hurt him. So he said the first thing that came to his mind. "The beavers said something about Aslan!" He practically shouted it. But he knew as soon as the words came out that he should not have said anything at all. The faun looked disappointed and shook his head at him. But what was he supposed to do? Jadis was going to kill him! He had to do something.

Jadis liked his information. She was going to take Edmund with her and they were going to search for Aslan and his family. But first she was going to deal with the faun. She ordered her troll to release the faun and the troll pulled Mr. Tumnus to his feet. "No, leave him alone! No!" Edmund shouted over and over, but it was of no use. The faun was taken away to Edmund did not know where, and Ginarrbrik the dwarf was hauling Edmund to his feet.

He did not know where they were going, but wherever it was, it was getting warmer outside. The snow had begun to melt. The sun started to poke out from behind the clouds. He no longer felt cold. This had to be a good thing. Something was changing, that much he could tell. The whole time they traveled in the witch's sleigh, she stared down at him with dark, menacing eyes. And Edmund glared right back at her. He could not be afraid of her. Well he could, and he was, but he would not let her see that. In fact, he was downright terrified of her. But she could not win.

The wolves led them to a crossing at a waterfall. His family had been here. They had been able to cross the river because it had been frozen an hour or two ago. But now it was completely unfrozen, and the water ran fast downstream. They could not cross that way. Edmund managed to smile a little.

A howl alerted them that the wolves were back, and with them they had a prisoner: a fox. The fox, Edmund learned, had helped his family escape from the wolves when they came searching the beaver's place. Jadis was furious. She was going to kill him, and once again, Edmund found himself spitting out words before he could he even think about it. The fox would not give Jadis information, so Edmund would. "Aslan is going to the Stone Table!" He frowned at himself. The fox was disappointed in him. Jadis thanked him for his information, and then she lifted up her wand. His information was not going to save the fox. She was going to kill him anyway. So he did the only thing he could think to do.

He stepped in front of her wand, and then he saw black.


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I am not C.S. Lewis and nothing in the Narnian world belongs to me._

* * *

Somehow, Edmund was waking up. Something burned inside of him. His outsides felt like they were melting. He felt like he was on fire! Shouldn't he be dead? He had been hit by the witch's wand. But somehow, he was alive, and in so much pain. He coughed and spluttered. His eyes blinked open, and he squinted out at the world. The first thing he saw was Airies, the girl from the professor's house, the girl who was actually from Narnia. She had her hands on his cheeks and she was laughing. "I did it!" she was shouting. But what did she do? Did she save him? She must have.

"Airies?" He fell forward, and she caught him, still laughing, pleased with herself. She clutched onto his arms in a vice-like grip, but he could hardly feel it. He still felt like he was burning. But what did that matter? He was alive. Airies had found him.

"My family?" he coughed out.

"They're fine. They're safe, and on their way to Aslan!" She pulled him into a hug. "What happened? Did she hit you?" she asked, lightly touching his cheek. He winced. She had hit him, slapped him in his face. He had nearly forgotten. Right before he jumped in front of the fox. Right before she killed him.

"She was chasing after my family. She lied. I don't know why I believed her. She told me I could rule by her side, and I wanted that so badly. But then I found out the truth, and I didn't want that. And she found the fox who hid them, and she tried to turn him to stone. But I got in the way. How… how did you… how am I?" He could not even get his words out, but Airies shook her head, understanding. "It doesn't matter. You're safe, Ed, and out of the witches clutches. Can you walk? We're going to meet your family."

She slipped her hand into his. It felt warm and soft in his own. Then she led the way. They had to go around the waterfall, which took longer but that was alright. Edmund needed to take it slow. He asked her how she had found him, and about his family.

"I left as soon as we figured out where you were. I staked the place out until morning, and then I followed you. I couldn't keep up with the sleigh, it was too quick, and I was too late. By the time I got there you were already…" Her hands started shaking and Edmund squeezed the one he was holding. "It doesn't matter now, I guess. Your family is on their way to Beruna. Aslan is waiting there for all of you. They got a good head start on the witch. They'll make it." She said this last bit more to herself than to Edmund. She was worried. Without her there, and with only the beavers to protect them, were they going to be alright?

They made their way through the forest, and all around them the trees were starting to bloom and the grass was sprouting up from the ground. Narnia was coming back to life. Airies could not help but be overjoyed. It was summer when she had left, and soon she would see a Narnian summer again. She even thought that they might see some more talking animals along the way, what with warmer weather coming.

They stopped for a rest by a little stream. Edmund was still weak, understandably. Airies knew they would need to take it slow. She leaned down by the water and dipped her hand into the cool wetness. That's when she heard it: a whisper among the trees. What was that Lucy had said the other day? Some of the trees were on the white witch's side. She took a deep breath and stood up slowly. She looked all around her and then pulled Edmund to his feet. "We need to go," she mouthed the words. His eyes widened but he nodded. Airies put an arm under his shoulders and all but dragged him. If the trees were able to let Jadis know that Edmund was still alive… They had to hurry, but Edmund was pale in the face. He needed rest, but they could not afford to rest here. Airies pulled him along, just hoping to get out from under the tree cover quickly and find a shelter for the night.

Then she heard a new sound: footsteps on her right. She did not have a weapon, that was her first thought. Her second thought was that it did not really sound like footsteps but hoof beats. The witch's sleigh? She made her decision. If it was the witch, she would not be going down without a fight. She put Edmund underneath a tree and told him to wait there, and then she moved out in front of him. Flames erupted from her palms and she waited, ready to attack. The steps were right in front of her, behind some bushes.

What jumped out from the bushes was not the witch, however, but a centaur. Airies breathed a sigh of relief and let the fire dim away. The centaur had his hands up in surrender in front of him. "I am a friend," he said, his voice deep but gentle. Airies took a step forward, slowly and still a little unsurely. "What is your name?" she asked him. "My name is Rayon. I come on behalf of your brother." The centaur said this last bit to Edmund, who had gotten up and moved to stand behind Airies.

Edmund blinked at him. "Peter sent you?"

"He is most worried, my liege," Rayon told him, and Airies turned around just in time to see the ghost of a smile play across Edmund's lips.

"I have come to lead you both to Beruna. I am your guide."

Airies graciously accepted, knowing that she did need the help to get them both there safely. She informed him of Edmund's status, and Rayon let the boy ride on his back. He would need his strength in the coming days, the centaur had agreed. As they walked, Rayon filled her in on what had been going on in Narnia since she had been gone. All that he told her fueled her hate fire for Jadis even more. But the good news was that Aslan was ready to take her head on. With the arrival of the two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve, Narnia had a new found hope. And so did Airies.

When night fell, and they were safely out of the trees, Rayon suggested they stop to make camp for the night. Edmund needed it. While he rested by the fire Rayon handed Airies a bow and arrow. "You know how to use one?" he asked. Airies smirked and nodded as she took it from him. They walked off a bit to find some food for themselves.

"How is the boy?" Rayon asked quietly.

"Quiet. He'll be okay though. Edmund is strong, stronger than I would have been, I'm sure."

"But he went with her, m'lady. You would not have," he argued, and Airies glared at him.

"I know her. I know what she is. I have always known what she is. Edmund is new to Narnia. He did not know. It is not his fault. You know her too, Rayon. I'm sure you know the kind of things she is capable of, and she is not above manipulating a young, troubled boy. Do not be a fool. It's not in your nature."

She raised the bow and arrow and pointed it at his head. The centaur's eyes widened, but then she pointed it just above his head and shot it into the air. A loud thud behind him alerted him that she had gotten their dinner. Airies went and picked up the bird, then turned to walk away. She paused, and nodded over her shoulder for Rayon to follow, and then she gave him a smile, letting him know that she was not angry with him. The centaur followed with a flick of his tail.

"We brought back dinner," Airies announced, but stopped dead in her tracks when she got back to their camp fire. Edmund was fast asleep. Airies smiled and dropped the pheasant on the ground before she made her way over to him. Softly she crouched down next to him and brushed the hair back off his eyes. He looked so peaceful as he slept, and if anyone deserved a little peace it was him.

She turned around and smiled at Rayon. "We shall save him some," he suggested, and Airies whole heartedly agree. She did not know about the centaur, but she was starving. When was the last time she had even eaten? They roasted the pheasant and ate together in pleasant silence until Airies decided to break it.

"I'm glad you found us, Rayon," she whispered, and he looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to say more. "I feel so much closer to Narnia when I have at least one other Narnian with me. It was a breath of fresh air when the beavers found us. When I had to leave them to go after Ed, I felt so… lost. It's been a long time that I've been away. This place almost doesn't feel real to me. But then you found us, and it was a breath of fresh air again. It feels more real, with you here," she said earnestly, and Rayon grinned at her. "Thank you, m'lady, happy to be of service."

Soon after that they fell asleep, and as soon as the dawn rose they were up and off to Beruna.

"How much further?" Edmund questioned. He was walking by the centaur's side today, feeling better than he had yesterday after his night of full sleep.

Rayon laughed. "Not much, your highness. We are straight on the path. If we stay true to our course, we shall be there before high noon."

Just then, something came whizzing out of the air heading straight towards Edmund. Before either of them knew what was happening, Rayon jumped in front of Edmund and then collapsed to the ground. An arrow stuck out of his chest. Edmund stood frozen to the spot, staring at the centaur. Airies leapt into action. In a flash, she had her own arrow set into her bow, pulled back the string, and with a loud twang the arrow connected right into their attacker's heart: it was a dwarf, one of the witch's.

Airies spun around, looking to see if anyone else was coming. But it did not seem like there were any more of the witch's minions around. They were alone. Edmund still stood frozen in place. He could not move. Rayon was on the ground, panting quickly and clutching at the arrow. Airies dropped to her knees and grabbed his hands. "Rayon, just breathe. Breathe. Breathe, Rayon. Look at me. Look only at me and breathe." Tears leaked out of her eyes and landed on his face, but he blinked them away and they mixed with his own. He took a few deep breaths, staring only at her. "That's it, Rayon, that's it." She breathed with him, and then Edmund dropped to the ground. His face was white, and he was biting his lip, but he covered Airies' and Rayon's hands in his own and breathed with them.

"My lady," the centaur whispered, and then he took his last breath.

Airies choked out a sob and leaned her head against his chest. Edmund reached up and closed Rayon's eyes gently with two of his fingers. He rested a hand on Airies' head but she swatted it off and lifted her head up. With fierce determination, she pulled the arrow out of his chest and chucked it away from them. Tears ran down her cheeks and she tried to catch her breath, but the sobs did not stop. How could this have happened? That arrow was heading for Edmund, not for Rayon. The witch knew. She knew that Edmund was alive. She tried to have him killed. But instead Rayon was killed. He sacrificed himself. He did not deserve this. He was good. Airies whimpered. Her blood rushed to her ears. She felt like she was in a tunnel, she could not hear much except her own blood pumping.

It was Edmund's voice that broke through the sound. "We need to go." His voice was strangely calm, and Airies responded to that. She looked at him with a blank face. "We'll send someone for him. Or we'll come back ourselves once this is over. But we need to go. Lucy said it was the trees. They know. She knows, and she will send more soldiers after us." He stepped over to her slowly, his hands up in a peace offering. Once he got to her he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "We need to go," he repeated.

When she started moving with him, Edmund paused and looked back at Rayon. He walked over to him, bent down and grabbed his sword. Edmund raised it into the air, looked at it from all angles and nodded. It was a fine sword indeed. Edmund was sure it had seen many battles, but it did not even look a day old. It was still shiny and new. He sheathed it and hung it by his hip, then took Airies' hand again and led her forward. He patted his sword lightly, knowing that he would cherish this forever. This centaur had protected him, and now he would do his best to protect Narnia. He realized now that this place deserved better, and he would be better.


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: I am not C.S. Lewis and nothing in the Narnian world belongs to me._

* * *

It took a day and a half for Airies and Edmund to get to Beruna. They were met by a guard of centaurs and fauns who took them to the center of the camp where a large red and gold tent sat. Peter, Susan, and Lucy waited by its side. They attacked Edmund with hugs right away.

"My daughter, welcome home," a deep voice said from inside the tent right before a beautiful lion stepped out of it.

"Aslan," Airies just managed to say before the world spun around her and she collapsed on the ground in a heap.

When she awoke, she was not sure of how much time had passed, but she was aware of a weight resting on her legs. Her eyes traveled down the bed until they landed on a head of dusty blonde hair resting on a pair of arms. He must have fallen asleep here. Almost immediately, memories came flooding back to her: of returning to Narnia, meeting the Beavers, reviving Edmund, losing Rayon. Airies gasped and clutched her chest. So much had happened already. That explained why she had collapsed. She closed her eyes, counted to ten, and then started shaking Peter awake.

"Peter. Peter, wake up."

Peter jolted awake and shook his head, gathering his surroundings.

"Oh, Airies! You're awake. You've been out for a day and a half."

Airies quickly sat up. "That long? Oh no." She could not believe that she had been asleep for so long. So much could have happened.

"Ed told us everything; About the White Witch, and how he was turned to stone. About Rayon, and everything in between. Airies, I just want to thank you but I don't even know where to start. You risked your life for my brother. And you saved him, even though he was not yours to save. I don't know how to thank you, but I owe you my life." There were tears in Peter's eyes as he said this, and he was gripping her hand so tightly that her fingers began to go numb, but none of that mattered.

"I would do anything for you… for any of you," she told him, and shockingly enough she meant it.

There was a pause in which both parties thought of what to say next. Neither really had any experience talking to the opposite gender, and both felt a little bit awkward around the other.

Airies broke the silence by saying, "How is he?"

Peter nodded his head over to another bed in the tent. "He's been out cold almost as long as you have. He's woken up a couple of times though. He has quite a bit of healing to do, but he'll be alright."

"And how are you?"

Peter was silent for a time before answering. "Terrified. I don't know what I'm doing, or how to fight for this country," he admitted.

"You'll need some training."

"But what about emotionally?" he questioned, and Airies squeezed his hand.

"I'll be here."

Peter gave her a weak smile, and was quiet again for another minute before saying, "Why didn't you tell me who you were?"

Airies face blanked and she sat that way for a moment, just staring at him, trying to think of an answer. She shook her head and said, "I didn't want to scare you. In England… you would never have believed me. And when we got here, I just, I don't know. I was home, and you were here, and I didn't want you to go. I knew right away it was a burden. I didn't want to place it on you. But it's more selfish than that, I think. I just did not want you to leave, and I knew that if I told you about who I was and about the war going on here… you would leave."

Peter shook his head fervently. "I would have stayed either way," he promised.

They were silent again before Peter said, "I had my first kill today," in a whisper.

"What?" Airies whispered back, her hands flying to her mouth. She then swung her legs out of bed and reached over to Peter to give him a hug. "Oh, Peter." She could feel his body shaking, resonating with his fear. She knew what he was thinking; that he was not the right person for this job. So, she stood up and took his hand, and led him outside.

Night had fallen once more over the camp. The moon shone big and bright in the sky, casting a silver glow over everything its light touched. Airies led him through the camp to a clearing off the woods. Here she stopped, and she took a deep breath before she started talking.

"I was fourteen when I started my real training. I had been training for combat for years before then. But when I turned fourteen… I started a different kind of training. When I was a small child, Aslan found me. And he made me into something great. He took his own magic, and a flame from Narnia's fire goddess, as well as a wave, the earth, and a breath of air from the other three Narnian goddesses. And that was it. My destiny has always been to fight in this war, for Narnia. And I was given the gift of magic, and control over the elements. I was fourteen when Jadis attacked this very clearing and Aslan sent me away. We all have a destiny. Fate leads us to it. Your destiny is to be king over all of Narnia. When the time comes, you will be ready. And I will be here every single step of the way. I believe in you, Peter, and I will do so even when you don't believe in yourself."

"I'm sorry, Airies. That does not sound like much of an existence," he apologized, and Airies had never thought of it like that before. It's true she had never had much time to be just a regular child, but then again she never was just a regular child.

"Don't be. It is the only existence I have ever known, and the only one I could ever want. This existence led me straight to you, and to your brother and sisters. I have never been stronger, and it is all because of this life. I have never been prouder to be a warrior, and to fight alongside someone like you, Peter."

They had turned to face each other, and Peter held her gaze with a look so intense it almost scared her. No one had ever looked at her like that before. Slowly, almost unsurely, Peter moved his hands to cup both sides of her face. And then, he leaned over and softly kissed her forehead. "Thank you," he whispered.

The next morning found Peter being shaken awake right as the sun was rising.

"Wake up, sleepyhead. It's time to start your training. Susan and Lucy did not waste a moment after I woke them," Airies said before brushing the hair out of his eyes. "Edmund Pevensie, the same goes for you. Do not make me come over there and wake you up a second time. Come on, boys, we don't have any time to lose!"

Soon enough, the boys were joining their sisters in the same clearing that Airies herself had trained in.

"It's about time, boys. Oreius and I are going to teach you the art of sword fighting. Let me see what you know so far, and then we can continue from there."

This morning when she had awoke, Airies had been overjoyed to learn that Oreius, her own trainer and mentor, was still alive. She knew that centaurs lived an unnaturally long life, but she had never known one to live as long as he had. Knowing and seeing that her old friend was still alive had given her a much greater hope than she had felt since she stepped foot back into Narnia. She was more ready now to start training again and to end this war once and for all with Oreius by her side.

Peter and Edmund both shrugged before pointing their swords at one another. It was not long before Airies was shouting at them to stop. She instructed them to move off to the side and watch her and Oreius demonstrate.

The girl and the centaur took their places across from each other. They circled each other for a moment before Airies made the first move. She whipped her sword at him, moving quickly, planning out each attack and each counter attack with ease. She was vaguely aware of Susan and Lucy coming over to watch. Lucy gasped loudly as Oreius took a swing at Airies' head, but she ducked and rolled to the right, missing the blow. As they came back together, Airies faked left and spun her sword around his with a peculiar twist, which knocked it out of his hand and rendered him weaponless. Aires then was able to place the tip of her sword underneath his chin, naming her the winner.

The four Pevensie children all clapped. "That was brilliant!" Edmund exclaimed, which made Airies laugh.

"Thank you, Ed. I learned everything from him," Airies said, acknowledging Oreius.

"Yes, she was always my best student. It has been a long time since I have gotten to watch you with that sword." His deep voice had a hint of pride in it as he spoke to her.

"One hundred years too long, my friend." Airies grasped the arm of the centaur before turning back to the others.

"And now, it is your turn."

Airies took Edmund, and Oreius took Peter, and they practiced. The two teachers constantly bellowed out instructions to their students, but after a while they were able to step back and watch their handiwork unfold. Edmund felt very luck indeed. It was clear that he was learning how to fight by the best swordsmen, or swordswoman in this case, in the country.

Soon, they were joined by Aslan. "Quite the work you two have done on them," he praised.

"I have faith in the boy," Oreius agreed, "He will lead Narnia to victory."

The three were silent for just a moment before the lion spoke. "Airies, I wonder if we might have a moment to walk together?"

She saw a look pass quickly between Oreius and Aslan before she agreed, and he led her off into the woods.

"Where are we going?" she asked him.

"There is something I need to show you. This is no light matter, dear one, and it is with a heavy heart that I take you where we are going."

They came to a clearing, one Airies recognized immediately: It was the clearing in which she trained with Anali, but it was far different now. In the center of the clearing there was a pool of water, and in the middle of the pool was a stone statue.

"What is that?" Airies choked on her words, tears in her eyes.

"A tribute," Aslan answered, his voice somber.

Slowly, she moved towards the water, even though she did not have to get closer to know who the tribute was for. She made it ankle deep into the water before crashing to her knees, sending the water splashing around her.

"NO!" she screamed, the ending turning into one long howl of anguish. The tribute was for Anali, her teacher, the goddess who was part of her, for she had died when Jadis had come all those years ago.

Airies was barely aware of pounding her fists against the water, or of the tears that were pouring down her cheeks. All she could feel was the pain in her chest, and the heavy sadness in her heart. She had known that Anali had been turned to stone, she had seen it herself just before she left Narnia. But she had hoped that Aslan had been able to fix her. He had the powers to heal anything. And the fire goddess had been so strong. She should have been able to overcome this.

Peter and the rest had heard her screams and came running. "Airies, what-?" Peter attempted to come after her in the water, but she shouted, "No!" and threw out her arm to stop him.

As she did so, the water underneath her came soaring out of the pool, building up a wall all around her that separated her from the others. It rolled up and down in waves. She could just make out the sounds of the Pevensies calling to her, but the wall of water mostly blocked out the sound, and made her feel alone, which was what she wanted. She did not know how she had done that, but it did not even matter now. She turned back to the tribute, making sure to keep part of her concentration on the water so that the wall did not come crashing down to let them in.

"Anali…"

"I was able to save everyone but her."

Aslan was suddenly beside her. "I should have known that I could not keep you out," she whispered.

"The ice reacted differently to her. She tried to use her fire from the inside once she had been turned to stone. It made her crack, until she was nothing. I tried everything I could." The lion's voice was grave, and Airies leaned against him. "What about the others? Her sisters? Are they still here?"

Aslan was unable to answer, but Airies understood what that meant. She would never get her proper training now. She would never be able to control the other three elements.

"The witch will pay," she spat. "All the lives lost, all the terror she has caused… her reign is over. I will make sure of it."

"The determination is good, dear one, but you must not hold the anger in your heart," Aslan told her.

"But how can I not?" she asked.

"Let the wall down," was all he said before walking off through the other side of the water.

Aslan was never wrong, so she did as he advised. She lowered her hand to her side, and the wall of water pooled around her feet once more. With a deep breath, she stood up and moved towards them. She could not bring herself to look at any of them. They had seen her weak, and she was humiliated. She made to walk away from them, but was stopped by the youngest Pevensie grabbing her arm.

"She must have been a dear friend. I am sorry, Airies," Lucy said before hugging the older girl with all her might, and Airies melted into the hug. The weight of her loss came crashing down upon her once more, the weight of all of her losses, and she sunk to her knees. Lucy patted her head as Airies cried, and then more pats were added to her back when the rest of Lucy's siblings came over.

Peter kneeled down next to her and placed a kiss upon her head. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Her grieving would have to wait, however, as Mr. Beaver came running over to them. "Children, the White Witch has requested a meeting with Aslan. We must go at once." Airies was off the ground quicker than anyone could imagine. She led the way back to the ford with a look of fierce determination in her eyes. A crowd had formed around Aslan's tent, and the children pushed their way to the front of it just in time to see the witch coming over the hill. Airies immediately made to pull out her sword, but Peter placed a hand on top of hers, staying her hand at the hilt of her blade.

The witch's chariot was placed on the ground right in front of Aslan. She stood up and looked right over to Edmund. Airies could practically feel him trembling at the sight of her, so she reached back and grabbed his hand, and then moved in front of him to shield him from her view. Peter had the exact same idea.

"You have a traitor here, Aslan," Jadis announced, turning back towards the lion.

"What's done is done. He has been forgiven for his disgraces against Narnia," Aslan decreed.

"Have you forgotten that every traitor belongs to me?" she growled.

"Try and take him, then," Peter challenged as he pulled out his sword. Jadis chuckled, and the sound made Airies' blood boil.

"Quiet human, insolent youth. You are no match for me!"

Aslan roared then, and Jadis visibly cowered at the sound. "Enough," he growled, "You and I shall speak alone." The two then disappeared into his tent.

They were in the tent for quite some time. It could have been hours, no one was sure. Most of the creatures had begun to sit on the ground, or paced back and forth in their place.

"What are they doing in there?" Susan questioned, biting at her nails.

"Negotiating," Airies said shortly, trying to mask her worries as best she could. Jadis had been right. The Deep Magic stated that all traitors in Narnia would be turned over to her. There was only one thing Aslan could hand over to Jadis that she wanted more than traitor's blood, and that was himself. Airies looked over to Edmund, who sat on the ground pulling at the grass, and hatred filled her body. But just as quickly as it came, the feeling was replaced with disgust in herself. That boy, who looked so much older than fourteen, had been put through too much torment at the hands of the witch. This was not his fault.

After what seemed like ages, Aslan and Jadis emerged from the tent, and the lion announced that she had given up her claim on the boy. Everyone in the camp cheered loudly, and those around Edmund clapped him on the back. Only Airies knew what this would really mean. Aslan turned back into his tent and Airies followed him.

"Am I to lose you too?" she asked, her voice thick and heavy with sorrow.

The great cat sat facing her, hunched over and looking as if he held the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"Tonight, I want you and Oreius to make ready for battle. Get everything ready for Peter," was his only response. She nodded and moved solemnly towards the tent flap.

"Daughter!" he called, and she turned around to see tears shimmering in his eyes. "I shall always be with you. You are my very dearest one."

Airies could not help herself as she ran to the lion and embraced him. "Thank you," she cried into his mane.

As she walked out of the tent, she looked around at all of the happy Narnians. She would not let them see her cry. She had to be strong now; for Narnia, for Edmund and Peter, for Aslan, for everyone. She did not want Narnia to see her weak side, because then they would all know that she was vulnerable, just like them.


	8. Chapter 8

Susan lay wide awake in her tent. It had been dark for some time now, but she had been completely unable to fall asleep. Her mind was uneasy. Her heart had not been able to slow down from the moment that the White Witch had come to see Aslan. Her family was not safe here. Not like they were really safe in England either, but at least there she had some idea of how to protect them. Here in Narnia she had no clue, and that scared her. She did not want to fight in a war, but she knew if it came down to it, she would do it to protect her family. She would always protect her family.

She rolled over onto her side and sniffed, trying to keep the tears at bay. She had to be strong. Lucy was in the bed right across from her. She could not let Lucy see her cry. She had to be strong for Lucy especially. Susan wished that her mother was here. She would know exactly what to do. Her mother was so strong, always. Susan wanted to be just like her when she grew up. Her mother was tough, but incredibly gentle to every human and creature she came into contact with. She was perfect.

She heard her name being whispered from across the tent. Lucy was calling out to her and pointing outside the tent behind her. A shadow of a lion crept past their tent. It had to be Aslan. There were no other lions around here that Susan knew of. A look passed between the two girls before they were silently jumping out of bed to follow him. Before walking out of the tent, Susan grabbed her bow and arrow set from Saint Nicholas. They might need it on their journey, wherever Aslan was leading them. They decided without even speaking about it that they would not alert him to their following him.

But of course Aslan knew. He knew everything. Still, he let them come with him. Something about him seemed sad. The way his shoulders hung, and the heavy footfall of his steps made Susan worried. Something bad was about to happen. They walked in silence. Susan and Lucy both had their hands wrapped in Aslan's mane. It seemed to comfort not only Him, but them as well. When they parted, the girls both felt an intense heaviness fall upon them. Aslan told them not to follow him any further. But what could they possibly do instead? They had to follow Him. They had to see this through.

They watched from a cliff, hidden behind some bushes as Aslan headed towards what they would later find out was the Stone Table. The Witch was there, and all of her creatures. What happened next Susan was never able to talk about, it was much too horrible to repeat, but it haunted her forever.

After it all was done, Susan wept and wept on the Stone Table with Lucy. What were they to do without Aslan? He was their hope, their guiding light. He knew exactly what he was doing. And that was what Susan said to Lucy to try and comfort her. Through her tears she managed to choke it out, but of course it was not enough to take away Lucy's pain, or to take away Susan's own pain for that matter. But He had to have known what he was walking into. She kept saying that to herself over and over.

There had to be a reason for all of this. Susan just had to figure out what it was. Lucy cried herself to sleep, weeping over Aslan's cold body, but Susan tried to stay awake and deduce it all. There must be a reason she came to Narnia in the first place. It was not just for some fun. There had to be something greater going on here. They had to be a reason that Edmund had believed in the White Witch enough to go with her. There had to be a reason that Aslan sacrificed himself for Edmund, because that was surely what had happened. There had to be a reason why she was suffering all this loss, going through all these hardships with her family. But what was the reason?

She looked out over Aslan to the moon over the trees. Was it to bring them closer? They had drifted apart recently. But that was normal wasn't it? They were growing up, all of them, and becoming interested in different things. All siblings drifted apart. Susan reasoned.

Yes, but they were all still young. They had plenty of precious years left together to be children. Maybe that was it. Maybe they had all tried to grow up too fast. When father left for the war, Peter stepped right in to fill his missing shoes. And Susan… well she was too wrapped up in her studies, and worried about finding a logical explanation for everything that she could not be bothered to spend any more time with her siblings.

Maybe that was it. Maybe she came here to try and come to terms with the fact that not everything had a logical explanation. Certainly Narnia did not, but that did not make this place any less real. Maybe she needed to rely less on logic and little bit more on belief. She needed to believe in Aslan, and more importantly she needed to believe in herself.

This whole time she had doubted herself and her ability to take care of her family. Even before she had been brought into this strange new world she had doubted it, and she knew that Peter had doubted his abilities as well. Maybe they both needed to believe in themselves a little bit more. Susan knew that she did. She was capable. If she was not before, Narnia had made her capable. It had already taught her to be brave. She had learned how to shoot a bow and arrow. And most of all, she had had fun here. She had been able to let herself go a little. She had not done that in quite some time.

So maybe that was what this was all about. In the midst of all this loss and hardship, Susan had found herself again. She believed, finally, that she could watch over her family and keep them safe. She would do whatever she had to do to keep them safe. She believed in Aslan.

The sky became gray instead of black. The morning was coming. Susan woke Lucy and they started to leave the Stone Table. It was time to get back to Peter and Edmund.

As they walked away, Susan thought one last time, "He must know what he's doing."


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: I am not C.S. Lewis and nothing in the Narnian world belongs to me._

* * *

" _In that knowledge, despair… and DIE!" Jadis stabbed her spear straight down into Aslan's heart. The lion gasped, and slowly the life faded from his eyes._

Miles away, Airies awoke suddenly and sharply, gasping for air. A sharp pain stabbed her chest each time she tried to get oxygen into her lungs. She shut her eyes against the darkness of her tent, breathing heavily. Sobs wracked through her body as the realization of what had happened overcame her. She had lost another loved one. She pulled her blankets around herself as tight as she could, and then sat up, pulling her knees even tighter to her chest, as if it could refill the hole which had just been punctured through her.

Aslan was gone. She would never see him again. "Oh, Aslan," she moaned.

After a while, she composed herself, remembering her promise to Aslan. It was now her duty to make sure that Peter was ready for this battle. Slowly and sadly, she made her way to Aslan's tent. As she arrived so did Oreius and a faun known as Taper. Oreius nodded at her and lifted his fist towards the sky. "Hail Aslan," he said, his deep voice piercing her heart. Airies and Taper copied him. "Hail Aslan," she whispered.

Together they walked into the tent, getting straight to work. Taper and Oreius immediately walked over to a little table where the layouts of the battle field waited for them. Airies, however, strayed away from them to another table. She needed to focus on her magic, and how to call the elements forward.

Fire was easy enough. She lit a ball of fire in her hand as she thought this and tossed it up and down. But how did she control the other elements? She had done wind and water at least once. Had she even worked out earth yet?

At that moment, Peter came into the tent and looked around. "So it's true then, about Aslan?" "Yes, we are planning your battle, sire," Oreius told him.

"If it's alright, I'd like to speak with Airies," he said, and she followed him out of the tent. He stood across from her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "How are you?" he asked, studying her face for emotion, and Airies found that she could not look at him.

"Fine," she answered shortly.

"You don't have to lie, Airies, not to me. Trust your heart with me. Let me in," he whispered.

"I'm fine!" Airies insisted, but her voice cracked and the tears came once again. She sank to the ground and put her head in her arms. "I'm not fine," she whispered. She could not bring herself to look at him, but he did not seem to mind. He kneeled down next to her and wrapped an arm around her, holding her close. She rested her head against his shoulder and she felt him press his lips against her hair. Soon, he put his hand under her chin and gently turned her face to his. He then placed both his hands on either side of her face and wiped the tears away from her cheeks with his thumbs.

Airies could feel how awkward he felt, not knowing what to say for fear of hurting her deeper. She told him that he did not have to say anything, and she meant it. His presence was enough. Airies had never felt so close to another person before. Peter was special, though, and it scared her to think that she could care for someone as much as she did for him, and that someone else could care for her just as much. She had never put her heart on the line like this until now.

Gently, Peter stroked her hair and allowed her to cry on his shoulder. Soon, Edmund joined them, and the three of them sat there hugging each other for what seemed like hours. Airies appreciated that they did not push her to talk, or to stop crying. They just let her be, and it actually made her smile a little. Peter got up and helped her to her feet as Edmund rubbed her back.

"It will be okay," he said before Peter walked into the tent to call Oreius and Taper outside. They quickly started making their battle plans. Airies went right back to tossing a flame ball up and down as she tried to figure out her struggles with the elements. She needed to be strong now, more than ever. She was done crying. There was too much work to do for her to be weak now. Aslan had trusted her. She would not let him down.

"So I wasn't imaging things when I stumbled upon you in your room that first night," Edmund speculated, coming over to her.

"No one's told you what I can do?" she questioned, to which he shook his head. With a mischievous grin, Airies took his hand and led him a little ways way from the tent.

"Watch."

Airies held out her hand and watched Edmund's jaw drop open as flames lit from her fingertips, and then traveled up her arm until she was engulfed entirely in flames. "Wow," Edmund breathed out once she let the flames go.

"That's not all I can do. Well, actually that's not true. That is all I can do right now, but that's not all that I'm capable of. I've been told that I also have control over wind, water and earth. I just have not quite figured them out yet. I have controlled wind and water at least once, but not earth."

"I think you have," Edmund interrupted.

"What do you mean?"

"At Tumnus' when we first got here, when the four of us went outside to follow the bird, you stayed in the house. The ground started shaking something awful. There was no explanation for it. We all thought it was an earthquake, but now I think it may have been you," he explained. "What were you doing then?"

"Reading Maugrim's letter," she told him after thinking back on it.

"And how did you feel?"

"Angry. I was so angry that I was seeing red," she said.

"And at the pond yesterday, when you made that water wall, what were you feeling then?" he questioned.

Airies thought about it. It seemed so long ago, but she had not forgotten it yet. "Despair."

"Maybe the control has something to do with your emotions," he suggested. "When did you first control wind?"

Airies thought hard before answering him. "It was just after you four came to the professor's. The day after you and Lucy came into my room, Peter came in to apologize. I wasn't even trying then. It just sort of happened."

"What do you think you were feeling then?"

She shook her head. "I'm not sure. Happy maybe? I was feeling light." She looked over at Peter and that same lightness washed over her. It felt strangely familiar.

"We should try accessing those emotions again," Edmund said.

"We?" Airies asked.

"You helped me learn the skills I need to fight. Maybe I can help you learn yours," he said with a shrug.

They decided to start with earth, since Airies did not remember actually having controlled that. Edmund nodded, and told her to try and move a boulder towards them. Airies focused on all of the anger that she had inside her, which needless to say was a lot of pent up emotion, but after several failed attempts Airies groaned and wiped the sweat off of her forehead.

"Can I make a suggestion?" Edmund asked, but he did not wait for an answer from her. "I think you need to try focusing less on the anger itself, and more on something calming."

"But you just said-"

"I know what I said!" Edmund snapped. "But I've changed my mind. I think the emotions are what unlocked the power, but I think to have full control over them you need to be in a more serene state of mind. Like a sort of medium between all the extremes."

"How?"

"Memories. Use good memories."

Airies decided to give what he was suggesting a thought. She tried to think of good memories, but the only thoughts that seemed to swim to the forefront of her mind were those that reminded her of all the destruction going on around them. It was not until Edmund took her hand in his that she was able to see clearly. She thought of her early training with Oreius, and the fun that she had as a child running around Cair Paravel with Giselle. She thought of jumping on Aslan and rolling around the grass with him as if he were her own large pet cat. She thought of how she felt when she returned to Narnia, when she saved Edmund, and when she first met Peter. After that, it was in no time at all that she was stretching out her hand and the boulder was moving towards them. It pushed its way through the ground, parting the earth as if the grass and dirt were mere waves of water. It then quivered, and broke into hundreds of tiny pieces, and then Airies was crying and Edmund was laughing.

They continued to practice that strategy. She was able to make water jump out of a basin, and even created a windstorm, which Oreius scolded her for afterwards because she had caused their battle plans to blow all around them. Feeling satisfied with herself finally, Airies and Edmund joined the centaur and the king-to-be, with Airies feeling like things were actually starting to look up for them.


	10. Chapter 10

_Sometimes I forget to put the disclaimer, but here it is_

 ** _Disclaimer:_ _I am not C.S. Lewis and nothing in the Narnian world belongs to me._**

* * *

The Narnians stood together on the sloping hills, formed around the rocks as one united army. Everyone's nerves were high now that the battle was officially here. However, no one was as nervous as Peter. He was not ready for this. He had no idea what he was doing. How was he expected to lead an entire army to victory? He was just a boy. As if Airies knew what he was thinking, which he was sure that she did, she reached up and touched his arm. Peter looked down at her from his place on his unicorn, and she nodded in reassurance. In reality, Airies was nervous as well. Not for Peter, she had full confidence in him, but for herself. Her whole life had led up to this one moment. Was she going to be worthy of it?

The griffins screeched in the air and flew overhead. One landed in front of Peter to warn him of the enemy's numbers. They were far larger than their own.

"Numbers do not win a battle," Oreius laughed.

"No, but I'll bet they help," Peter gulped.

The Narnians watched as the White Witch and her soldiers came up over the hills. Their numbers were indeed greater than the Narnian numbers. Her army was menacing and evil, consisting of dwarves and minotaurs, hags and werewolves, cyclopes and giants. Any evil creature one could think of, and the witch was sure to have it.

Peter looked to Oreius. "Are you with me?" he asked.

"To the death," the centaur answered without a moment's hesitation.

That was what Peter needed. He pointed his sword towards the sky and shouted, "For Narnia and for Aslan!" and then they were off. The cheetahs picked up speed and they were the first to collide with the enemy. The battle officially began. Peter swung his sword and hit anything and everything that stood in the way of Jadis. Just as they had said, Airies and Oreius were always on either side of him, and that made him feel stronger.

Airies was feeling strong as well. The battlefield was where she belonged. It felt to her as if her sword was a part of her. Every slash, every stroke, felt natural. Peter was busy fighting a Minotaur, and he did not notice a giant coming towards him. Luckily enough, Airies did. Just as it was about to make the grab, she jumped over the Minotaur Peter had just slain, and slashed at the giants arm. A terrible yell from the giant shook the whole ground. It lost its footing and was just about to land on Airies, but Peter grabbed her hand and swung her behind him and his steed.

"Thanks," she said.

"You too," he managed to say before engaging back in battle.

As Peter fought a hag, Airies was distracted by a werewolf. It tackled her to the ground and chomped its teeth.

"I am hunger. I have heard much about you, the daughter of Aslan. I have always wanted to taste the lion's daughter," it growled.

For an answer, Airies bravely grabbed the wolf's snout and said, "Taste this," before shoving a ball of fire down its throat. The beast just managed a whimper before it keeled over and died. She pushed the creature off of her and tried to get back to Peter's side.

A beautiful screech echoed through the air and a phoenix flew down and left a trail of fire in between the Narnians and their enemy. Aslan's army cheered, as this stopped more than half of their enemy on the other side. But Peter's horse sat quiet and still. As he expected, Jadis came through the flames and the fire went out.

"Fall back! Draw them to the rocks!" Peter shouted, sounding like a true leader. Peter extended his hand to Airies and once she took it he pulled her up behind him on his horse. They made it to the rocks, giving the witch's army a more difficult time of navigating their way around, while also giving the archer's above an easier time at hitting their targets.

With every passing second the witch drew nearer and nearer. As Peter moved to turn his steed back around, the animal went crashing to the ground. He did not notice one of Jadis' dwarves shoot an arrow his way. It had connected with his horse's leg and sent them both crashing to the ground. Peter moved to help Airies up, but the next thing they knew Oreius was launching over them.

"No, stop!" Peter shouted, but it was too late. The centaur was already at the witch, and she had turned him into stone.

That was the final straw for Airies. She stood up and gripped her sword tight. Too many of her friends were lost to this sorceress. No more. She moved to Jadis, but Peter grabbed her arm around the elbow and spun her around. He knew that she needed to do this, that Jadis was her kill, and he did not begrudge her that. He looked into her questioning eyes and with a deep breath he pulled her to him and kissed her full on the mouth. Time seemed to stop for just that moment. Airies heart pounded in her chest. And then time picked up again as they pulled apart. He had just a moment to rest his forehead against hers and he used this time to say, "I love you." Airies smiled and echoed, "I love you," before she twisted away from him and ran towards the witch.

Just before they met, Airies leapt over a rock, and when she landed on the ground she slammed her fist into it. A rumble below shook the ground, and sent Jadis' chariot tumbling over. Once Jadis was up off the ground, Airies made it over to her. They circled each other, swords drawn.

"So, you're the daughter I've heard so much about. Come to avenge thy father?"

"You have no idea," Airies growled before she made the first move and slashed her sword at the witch.

Airies was gaining the upper hand, when from out of nowhere Jadis pulled out her wand and used that to disarm the younger girl. She spun around Airies and held her from behind with her wand at her neck and her sword at her side. She held her so that she could see Peter fighting perfectly alongside Edmund.

"Has losing Aslan taught you nothing? When you fight for love, you are nothing but a fool, and you will fall," the White Witch whispered in her ear. Her breath was icy cold on Airies' cheek. Peter had spotted them now, and he and Airies made eye contact across the field. Jadis noticed this and she smiled wickedly. She brushed her cheek against Airies' cheek and closed her eyes.

"You're the fool, Jadis, and you're about to lose everything," Airies said back, her voice never faltering even though there were tears in her eyes.

"We shall see," Jadis sneered.

She paused for only a moment before stabbing her sword through Airies' stomach. The pain knocked Airies' breath away. She could not even scream. Jadis let Airies go, and she crumbled to the ground in a heap. The sorceress stepped over her as if she were nothing and walked slowly towards Peter.

On the other side of the field, a sharp pain pierced through Edmund's stomach. He looked around the battlefield and watched in horror as Jadis pulled her sword out of Airies and brushed it off on the grass. His heart ached, and an anger like he had never felt before coursed through him as he jumped down from the rocks. He was going to have his revenge if it was the last thing he did. As he ran, he noticed that left and right were statues of the creatures Jadis had turned to stone. He had to get that wand away from her. Without her wand, the witch was nothing. Edmund squared his shoulders and jumped down from a rock, landing right in front of Jadis. He took her by surprise, but it only lasted a moment. His heart was pounding in his ears as they stared at one another, and then, the witch smiled a purely evil smile. She thrusted her wand at him, but Edmund dodged it and brought his sword down on it, hard, breaking the wand in two. A piercing scream erupted from the wand as a bright light flashed across the field.

Edmund stared up at Jadis, and she stared back at him. Edmund was not ready for what happened next. He could barely comprehend what Jadis had done until she slowly pulled out her broken wand from his stomach and he felt the pain shooting through every inch of his body.

"How sad," Jadis sneered as inch by inch she pulled out her wand. "Traitor's blood is always mine." With that being said, she yanked the rest of her wand out of his stomach and turned away from him.

As he fell to the ground, everything around him seemed to happen in slow motion. Even his thoughts were moving slower than usual, though they were all focused on one thing: Airies. This was for her. It was all for her. She had saved his life, and he had not been able to do the same thing for her. He had been fighting for her, to give her a free Narnia, and now he would die for her. And he was at peace with that thought. Maybe he would even see her again.

As Edmund began to fade away, Peter strengthened up with anger. It took over his whole body as he charged at Jadis. Not his brother too, not when they had been fighting so much recently. All he could think was that if he killed Jadis, maybe his brother would have a chance of surviving. Edmund had to survive. Peter had to make up for all the hurt that he had caused his brother. He was completely blinded by fury as he crashed his sword against Jadis'. He was channeling every emotion that he was feeling into his sword, and he was sure that Jadis could feel it. Her face, which normally showed no emotion, betrayed her. She was scared. She tried disarming Peter many times, but was unlucky in each attempt. He was swift with his sword and with his shield. Her creatures started to close in around them, ready to jump in should she need them to. All were anxious to get a bite of the son of Adam who threatened their queen. But then the creatures yelped and screamed as the ground started to shake and quiver beneath them. The ground started to break apart, sending the creatures backward; some even fell into the crevices. A circle formed around Peter and Jadis, leaving them completely isolated by the broken ground.

Airies was alive!

She was leaning against a rock, very weak, but her hand rested on the ground. She had caused the ground to split, not letting Jadis' creatures take over Peter. Peter saw her and a grin split over his face as he realized that he might just win. Jadis screamed in absolute fury.

And then, the most amazing sound hit Peter's ears: a lion's roar. Peter and the witch both looked around to see Aslan standing on the tallest of rocks, very much alive. Susan, Lucy and more Narnian creatures stood behind him. The lion roared a second time, much louder and more aggressive than the first. Peter was distracted by the moment, and Jadis took advantage of this. She was able to finally disarm him and knocked him to the ground. She stabbed her sword into his arm, locking him in place. Peter tried to pull himself loose, but to no avail. He looked Jadis directly in the eyes, choosing to be brave instead of scared. Death was coming, and he was not going to die a coward. She brought her sword down on him, but he blocked the blow with his shield, which she promptly kicked aside.

Just as she was about to deliver the final blow, Aslan jumped over him, knocking Jadis to the ground. Peter was able to pull the sword out of his arm, and quickly stood up. The Narnians ran past him in a blur. All he could see was Aslan, who was looking very pleased.

"It is finished," He said.

As Peter spoke to Aslan, Airies slowly made her way over to Edmund, clutching at her side the entire time. He was coughing, and breathing in short, shallow breaths. She was able to kneel down behind him and gently take his helmet off.

"Edmund, oh Edmund, you brave, foolish boy. You cannot die. You took this pain to avenge me, and I will not let you go." She leaned her forehead against his, and tears leaked out of her eyes. "Do you hear me, Ed? Don't go. You'll be okay. I need you, Ed, just as much as I need Peter, and Peter needs you too. Just hold on a little longer."

"I'm so cold," he whispered, and in response Airies cupped his cheeks and brought the fire to just below the surface of her skin to warm him.

Peter, Susan, and Lucy ran over to them. Susan took Airies' spot behind him as Lucy poured one drop of her antidote down his throat. All they could do now was wait. Edmund's eyes closed and he stopped breathing. They were all crying now, but no one harder than Peter. After a few seconds of silence, Edmund's eyes weakly fluttered open and he inhaled sharply. Peter wasted no time in grabbing him and pulling him into a hug.

Meanwhile, Airies had been trying to move away from them in order to give the family time to be together, but she only made it a few feet before dropping to the ground. Lucy noticed immediately.

"Airies, oh Airies, are you alright?" She ran over to her.

"Fine. I'm fine. Worry about the others," Airies said hoarsely. There were so many other Narnians who could benefit from her antidote. She could wait.

"Family first," Lucy insisted as she gently pulled Airies' hand away from her side and gasped. "Quickly now, one drop!" the younger girl exclaimed before administering one drop of the liquid to her. It was sticky and sweet, and it made Airies cough, but it had her feeling better almost instantly.

"You and Ed will have matching battle scars," Lucy joked. She looked around at all of them before getting up and making her rounds around the battlefield to revive all who had been wounded.

All around, Narnians who had been petrified were waking up. There was lots of laughter and cheering all around. All was finally right.


	11. Chapter 11

**_Disclaimer:_ _I am not C.S. Lewis and nothing in the Narnian world belongs to me._**

* * *

The coronation ceremony for Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy was underway. Watching her friends getting crowned as kings and queens of Narnia brought Airies to tears. She was overwhelmed with happiness that this day had actually come. She truly believed that she would never return to Narnia. Her hope had been completely lost. But these four amazing people came into her life and changed everything, not just for her, but for all of Narnia as well. They all deserved their crowns.

Airies wiped away her tears with her thumb and cheered loudly as Aslan declared, "I give you your Kings and Queens of Narnia!" The four Pevensies took their thrones, all looking very nervous, but also very pleased. Cries of, "Long live King Peter! Long live Queen Susan! Long live King Edmund! Long live Queen Lucy!" rang throughout the hall, but not a single soul cheered louder than Airies.

Shortly after their crowning, the coronation ball began, and Peter was asking Airies to dance.

"I'm not very good at this," he told her as he spun her around and stumbled over her feet.

"As it happens, neither am I," she admitted with a laugh.

They danced in silence for a while, save for a few laughs on Peter's part as Airies tripped over her own feet. For the most part they were just enjoying this time together.

"So, High King Peter, how do you feel?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"I'll let you know when my head stops spinning," was his reply as he spun her around again.

"You're going to be a great king, Peter. You already are at that. You have nothing to worry about."

"How do you know?" he asked. "How are you always so certain?"

"Woman's intuition," she said with a laugh, and Peter laughed too. It seemed like years ago that she had made that very same comment for the first time in the professor's back yard in England.

"I mean, really," he prompted her.

"I trust my judgement. I trust you," she told him with a smile.

Peter slowed down their dance and dipped her back. "Airies?"

"Yes, my king?" she asked with a smile as he pulled her back up, their foreheads resting against one another.

"I meant it, what I said during the battle. It wasn't just a burst of adrenaline, or me not thinking clearly because I was scared I wasn't going to see you again. I mean, I was. But that wasn't why. I love you," he said quietly while leaning his forehead against hers. "I'm sixteen, and I know most would say that I should not know what love is. But when I look at you I know it, I see it, and I feel it. I look at you, and no matter where I am, or what's going on around me, I am home."

Airies sighed. "I love you too, Peter, truly. You are my home now. I think I've known it all along since you first trespassed into my hall of the house," she said with a laugh, and Peter laughed too.

Their dance ended and Peter swiftly kissed her hand before going to dance with Susan. Edmund came over to Airies and bowed, silently asking her to dance. She curtsied, accepting, and then took his hand.

"Edmund Pevensie, the bravest king I know," she praised him, and he blushed.

"I was stupid. I jeopardized everything by going after her. But… I couldn't let her get away with what she did… to you," he said, clearly embarrassed.

"Edmund what you did… it wasn't stupid," she told him before kissing his cheek. As she did so, she heard what sounded like a heartbeat speed up. It was not her own heart beating and she quickly realized that it was Edmund's. As she pulled away from him, the heartbeat slowed down. "Huh," she said under her breath. She did not have any explanation why she could hear his heart, but it did not bother her in the slightest, not now at least. She would figure that puzzle out later.

The song ended and Edmund bowed and kissed her hand. Aslan chose that moment to ask Airies to accompany him on a walk on the beach. They walked in silence for some time. Airies could tell that something was deeply troubling him, and she thought she knew what it was, so she spared him the trouble and said, "Must you leave already?"

Aslan sighed heavily before answering. "Yes, my dearest one, you know that I must. It is part of the Deep Magic that I cannot stay in Narnia too long at one time. You understand, of course?"

"Yes but it's just… I've only just returned. I was gone three years. It was one hundred here. Am I to have no time with you at all?" They both had tears in their eyes now.

"The time will come. And I was always with you there, and I will always be with you here. Even if you cannot see me, you will feel me. And we will see each other again. You are my daughter, my very dearest one."

Airies could not control herself. She hugged the great lion with all of her might, and Aslan hugged her back, wrapping a paw around her back. "I love you, Aslan," she whispered into his mane. "I love you too, Dearest One," he said. "Do not forget that you have some of my magic inside you as well. You'll learn to control that too." The lion then kissed her face before turning away and disappearing into the horizon.

Airies felt very sad, but she also knew that this was not the last time that she would see him. Aslan was not a tame lion, but he always kept his promises. Soon, Peter joined her. He said nothing except, "We will see him again," and wrapped her into his arms. They rested against each other. As they watched the sun drift down below the water, they knew that even though the moon was coming out to say goodnight, they still had tomorrow and many more tomorrow's to look forward to.

* * *

Ten years later

High King Peter was making his way to Lady Airies' chambers. He had been working up the courage for this moment for ten years. He knew now that there would never be a perfect time to do this, so what was he waiting for? The ring in his pocket felt very heavy.

He knocked on her door and entered when she gave permission. "Airies, my love, would you- you look absolutely horrid. I thought you were getting better?"

She was wrapped in her royal blue silk robe. Her hair was wet and hanging over her left shoulder. She was standing next to her bathtub, holding onto the sides of it for dear life. Her face was pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes. "I thought I was, but it hit even worse when I awoke this morning." Her voice was hoarse and just that one sentence made her break out into a fit of coughs. "I'll kill Prince Cor for passing on his illness to me. I can't breathe Peter. I don't know how much more of this I can take."

Peter chuckled and took her by the elbow to help steady her. Whenever she got even the tiniest of colds, Airies always acted like the apocalypse was landing upon Narnia. It always seemed to be for her at least. Peter thought it was hysterical, though he would never tell her that. "You need to rest," he advised while grabbing a towel and drying her hair before leading her back to bed.

"I can't. I have council today," she whined.

"Skip it," he said with a nonchalant shrug.

"Peter, I can't skip it!" Even in her current state she sounded horrified at his suggestion.

"You're queen of Narnia, you can do whatever you want."

Airies rolled her eyes at him. "I am not queen of Narnia."

"You could be, officially I mean, if we got married."

Airies stopped trying to fight him from getting her into bed and stood up. She swayed on the spot but then steadied herself and said, "What?"

Peter had looked away from her after he said what he did, feeling nervous, but he looked at her again, reminding himself that there was nothing to be afraid of. Of course his proposal would end up being as simple as just asking her. It perfectly symbolized them. He did not need to do anything grand for her because he loved her and she loved him and that was all he needed. It was now or never. "Airies, will you-?"

But that was as far as he got. Susan, Lucy and Edmund came bursting into the room, claiming that the White Stag had been sighted and that they needed to move now if they had any hope of catching it. Peter looked at Airies apologetically.

"You go. You know what this means, and how much luck the stag will bring. Go. No, don't kiss me, I'm-!" but she was interrupted by Peter crushing his lips upon hers. "-sick," she finished once he pulled away.

"Then I shall be sick with you. I love you!" he called as he ran after his brother and sisters. "Good luck!" She shouted after them. "And Ed, tomorrow we pick up with your training! You've had a vacation from me long enough!" She heard his laugh echo from down the hall and she smiled despite how absolutely awful she felt.

Airies had gotten back into bed and done as Peter advised. She sent Tumnus in her place for the council meeting and spent the rest of the day napping. When she awoke, it was dusk and it was eerily quiet. She could make out the waves crashing against the beach below, and she managed to get out of bed and left her room to find the usual bustle of the castle going on around her, but it still seemed far too quiet.

She found Tumnus in the great hall and asked if he had heard from their majesties. "I have not, m'lady. I have been starting to get a little worried myself," he admitted. She was about to tell him not to say that when a dwarf came running through the doors. "My lady! Sir Tumnus! Your highnesses horses have returned alone, without the kings and queens."

Airies did not wait to hear any more. She took off for the stables, with Mr. Tumnus hot on her heels. She found Edmund's horse first, for he was the only talking beast among the four. He was whining and pawing at the ground. "Whoa Philip! What happened?" she stroked his mane and got him to calm down.

"The kings and queens have disappeared," he explained. Airies felt faint, and not because she was ill.

"What do you mean?" Tumnus asked.

"We stopped for a rest, and Queen Lucy found a lamppost. They all examined it for a moment before Queen Lucy took off into the brush, as if she was searching for something. They all followed, but none came back," Philip told them.

"Lamppost?" Airies questioned, but then all at once a memory came back to her of a time long ago where she and the other four came through a wardrobe in Professor Digory Kirke's home and landed into Lantern Waste of Narnia. And she realized what had caused the quietness around her.

She could no longer hear Edmund's heartbeat, because he was no longer in this world.

When she sent her fire coursing through him that day when he was turned to stone, she had unknowingly connected the two of them together. She had been hearing his heartbeat ever since. She had grown so accustomed to it that she often forgot she could even hear it, she was that used to it. But she definitely noticed its absence now.

"So, they're gone? They've returned to England," Airies stated, trying to keep her tone neutral.

"Not by choice, Lady Airies, purely by coincidence. Queen Lucy did not know where that path would take her," Philip reassured her.

"What should we tell Narnia?" Tumnus asked.

"The truth. We shall tell them the truth. Call the council back, Mr. Tumnus please. I will speak to them."

With that, Airies escaped to her room. She ran out to her balcony and looked across the water. "Come back to me, Peter. Come back," she whispered, and then she blew a breath out into the night. All around her a faint breeze picked up. It traveled along the beach and out over the water, carrying her words with it.

* * *

Peter was toppling out of the wardrobe in the spare room with his siblings right behind him. They were just children once again, dressed in their old clothes, no longer kings and queens. A sinking feeling dropped into his stomach as he realized where he was. Was any of that real, or had they been playing a game this whole time? As he thought this, he felt something hard drop into the pocket of his trousers, and pulled out the ring he had planned to give to Airies earlier that very same day. He promised himself that he would keep it safe for her until he saw her again. For just as Aslan had said, once a king of Narnia, always a king of Narnia.

The professor found them all like this and asked what they were doing in the wardrobe. With a twinkle in his eye, he told them to follow him and tell him their story. Peter brought up the rear of their group, and just as he was about to cross the threshold, he felt a breeze come at him from out of the wardrobe, and a voice only he could hear said, "Come back to me, Peter. Come back." Peter closed his eyes, savoring the sound. "I will, Airies," he vowed. "I will."

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:** Thank you so much for those of you that have made it to the end of this story. This adventure really was purely for myself. I would not have felt better if I had left the story the way that it had been before. But now that I've finished this first installment, I do feel much better. Again, thank you so much to those that have taken the time to read this! Aslan knows I appreciate it! :)_


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